A Demon's Heart
by RoseThorn1234
Summary: Naru's back from England, just 6 months after he left. But things aren't going to be easy. Something from Mai's past has come and he- no it- will make life very difficult for everyone. This is my first fan fiction, I hope you like it (I don't know what else to put in the summary- but the story will be good).
1. Chapter 1

**Ok…. So this is my first fan fiction. I hope you like it.**

Mai's Dreamland

_A car is lying shattered on the road, oil spilling out of the engine. People gather around it filled with horror and the need to be quiet. Inside the car, there are two forms. One is lying ominously still, and the second form's struggles to get out getting fainter._

_No one notices a man step out from the crowd and walk right through it, standing half in-half out of the car's walls. In fact, it's almost as if he's not there at all. He watches the woman and child. The child is obviously dead, but the woman doesn't seem to realize that and keeps calling her name. The woman herself is dying, her body broken beyond repair. The woman starts to become quieter and the man takes this chance to speak._

"_The girl is dead, but I can give her one of my hearts and she will live," he said. "But, there will be a price."_

_The woman looks at him with hope. "I'll do anything, just save her! Save Mai!"_

_When she says this the man smirks, his eyes flash red. But the woman doesn't notice, still pleading for him to save her child._

"_Good, I'll save her," he said. "You can rest now."_

_The woman smiles and starts to close her eyes, but then opens them again, as a thought flits through her mind. "What about the price?"_

"_Don't worry, it will be paid," he says and she smiles and nods, letting go of the last shred of strength that had kept her alive. _

_After she dies, the man smirks maliciously, "Oh yes, the price will be paid. But not by you….."_

_He then turns to the child, letting his eyes turn red, revealing his true nature, and slowly puts his hands against his chest. At first nothing happens, but then something starts to come out of his chest. The thing is red and is beating steadily. He takes the heart and puts it against the child's chest watching in satisfaction as the heart disappears inside her body. The man watches his handiwork, satisfied, than starts walking away. _

'_The girl will know,' he thinks. 'The girl will know everything that has just happened and all about me, and all my thoughts and actions. And she will know the price of living. It's only fitting that she knows after all. The heart I gave her was one of the many I have, but it's still mine. And it won't let her forget.'_

_Back at the car, the small child, the small girl that was dead, takes a breath and opens her eyes, staring after the 'man' who saved her as he walks away._

Normal POV

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_ The sound is made by an alarm clock by the side of a bed. In the bed is a lump that starts to move as the voice doesn't stop.

"Ugh," moans the brunette as she emerges from the bed and closes the alarm. Mai looks around blearily, still not fully awake, when her eye happens to fall upon the clock.

"Kyaaaaa! I'm late! Naru will kill me!" Suddenly full of energy she races across the small apartment as she gets ready. As soon as she had all had all her things, she races out the apartment, pausing only to lock the door.

As she races to her job, she remembers her dream and frowns. 'I haven't dreamed about _that_ for a while. I guess it was too much to hope that I wouldn't dream about what happened again, after all, it is _his _heart inside me. He was right, though. It won't let me forget. Well, enough of these depressing thoughts, I'm late and Naru is probably fuming!'

Mai raced through the streets, weaving through the crowd, until she came upon a building with a neon sign that said 'Shibuya Psychic Research'. Mai smiled as she raced up the stairs. Naru, her narcissist boss, had just recently come back from burying his brother, Gene, in England. She was really happy that he had decided to come back to Japan 6 months after he left, the whole gang had thought for sure that he would stay in England.

Mai opened the door to find Naru waiting for her, leaning against the doorway to his office. "You're late."

"I know, I know," she replied as he opened his mouth to speak again. "And wait! Don't tell me- tea."

Naru stared at her, annoyed at being cut off, and then abruptly went inside his office, slamming the door.

'Wow, talk about mood change.' She started to the kitchen to make the tea, stopping to ask Lin whether he wanted any. When the tea was ready, she poured it into two cups and gave Lin his glass. Next, she knocked on Naru's door. "Come in."

She entered and put his cup on the table. After that, she started back toward the door without a word. She didn't notice Naru staring at her as he wondered why she hadn't waited for him to say thank you like she usually did, though her efforts were in vain.

***time skip to 1:00 pm* **

Mai had finished her work quickly and was now bored, putting her head against her desk as she stared blankly at the wall. She still was depressed from the dream she had, but she thought that she had done a good job of hiding it. What she didn't know was that Naru was suspicious of her abnormally quiet behavior.

"Mai, I don't pay you to be lazing around." Mai looked up to see Naru staring at her with cold blue eyes from the doorway.

"But Naaaaruuuu, there's nothing to dooooo!" She whined at him. He raised an eyebrow at her behavior. "It seems as though I'm not giving you enough work. If you really want something to do, then file these papers away." He dumped a huge pile of papers on her desk.

"What! Naru, that'll take forever!"

"You were the one who wanted something to do." He took no heed of his assistant who was quickly going from irritated to angry. "And Mai." He paused at the doorway. "Tea."

"STUPID, TEA ADDICTED NARCISSIST!" Mai shouted, and then grumbled under her breath as she stomped to the kitchen. She didn't see Naru looking at her from the doorway with soft eyes. 'At least she's back to normal now.'

**RoseThorn: Please tell me what you think of it! **

**Naru: I'll tell you what I think- It's stupid.**

**RoseThorn: *mumbles under breath* It's okay Rose, you just have to wait until Mai gets here. Don't blow up. Keep the anger in. It won't be fair to Mai if something bad happens to everyone just because of Naru.**

**Naru: *looks disturbed* If you want her to stop going crazy then review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**RoseThorn: *grinning madly as she types with the speed of light***

**Naru: Wow… I didn't think anyone could do that, and this is just because of the reviews you have been getting.**

**RoseThorn: *looks over with a glint in her eyes* Of course, I'm happy that people are complimenting me- not that you know anything about that.**

**Naru: Of course *smug* I don't compliment people who are stupid.**

**RoseThorn: WHAT! I'M NOT STUPID!**

**Naru: Oh really, right on the first chapter you forgot to put the disclaimer that says that you don't own ghost hunt. **

**RoseThorn: What! *Madly runs to check* It's true how could I have been so stu- *suddenly looks at Naru who's looking at her smirking* Ohhhh, I see what you're trying to do.**

**Naru: *trying to look innocent and failing miserably* What do you mean? Oh, please finish what you were saying. **

**RoseThorn: *now very mad* That's it you better look out Naru- you have no idea what I'm capable of. I don't care what happens to Mai and the others now. I'll get my revenge!**

**Naru: *looking scared as he watches Rose laugh maniacally* Uh oh…..**

Normal POV

Mai stares blankly at the door from her desk, her face a mask of boredom, and willed someone- anyone- to come through.

'Ugh….. I'm so bored! There isn't anything to do and Naru's been declining cases left and right. I wonder why he does that? It's like he's trying to drive everyone away- '

"Mai, tea." The infamous call came from the narcissist in his lair- oops, office. Mai got up and grumbling and went to the kitchen. "Get your own tea you narcissist idiot!"

When she finished making tea, she knocked on the door and went in. Naru was sitting behind his table, his head buried in a book. Mai put the cup of tea on his desk and waited, staring at him expectantly.

"Mai, I know I'm handsome, but don't let that get in the way of your work," Naru smirked.

"Ugh! That's not why I was looking at you! Would it kill you to be polite?!" Mai fumed after she got over her embarrassment.

"Yes, it just might, you never know," Naru said with a straight face. When he said this, Mai had a sudden urge to strangle him, but she didn't (because we all know that she's a sweet person). Instead she stomped out the room, slamming the door behind her.

You're such a narcissist!" She shouted behind her. In the office, Naru smirked and went back to reading.

Mai started back towards her desk, still angry, when suddenly her heart started beating energetically and painfully.

"Ow!" Mai winced, clutching her chest as she dropped to her knees.

'Why is my heart acting up? It's almost like it's greeting someone…. Oh no- it couldn't be!'

"Mai, what's wrong?" Naru was kneeling beside her. He had heard her cry out and had come immediately to see what had happened (Ha! Someone's worried!).

"Nothin- ow!" Mai winced as her heart started beating faster. Spots of black danced across her vision as she started to lose consciousness.

"MAI!" Naru caught her as she dropped.

As she fell, a voice sounded in her head. _'I'm coming….'_

**RoseThorn: Hah! There you go!**

**Naru: *looking horrified and worried* What did you DO?! What happened to Mai?!**

***Suddenly Mai runs into the room almost in tears* **

**Mai: Rose whyyyyyyy?! *big puppy tears are coming out* Why did you bring **_**him**_** into the story?**

**RoseThorn: *looking guilty* It's not my fault! It's all Naru's fault for making me angry! That's the only reason I put **_**him**_** into the story.**

**Naru: *Backing away slowly as Mai looks at him with her puppy face* Don't look at me like that!**

**Mai: Why did you have to make her mad! Now **_**he's**_** coming.**

**Naru: Who's **_**he**_** anyway? Doesn't **_**he **_**have a name?**

**RoseThorn: Hmph! I haven't thought of one yet. That reminds me! Could all of you people out there give me a Japanese name that fits what I've shown you about **_**him**_** so far?**

**Naru: *Looking uncomfortable as Mai runs into his arms sobbing and he awkwardly stands there* You better help her- she's really stupid. Oh! And review so that Mai stops crying.**

**RoseThorn: *angry* WHY YOU-!**

**And so the cycle starts all over again….**


	3. Chapter 3

**RoseThorn: I'll show you this time Naru! I might not own Ghost Hunt, but I will make you impressed!**

**Naru: You'll die before that happens.**

**Mai: *looking uncomfortable as the two lock into a glaring contest* Ummm… What about me?**

Mai's Dreamland

_A 5 year old Mai is in a hospital, staring at the ceiling. A doctor enters the room, his kind face full of happiness for the girl who had been on death's door when she had been admitted a month before._

"_Mai, you are being released today…. Aren't you happy?" The doctor looks concerned at the emotionless face that the girl shows to him. "You should be grateful you know, that car accident was really serious- you almost died. It's a miracle you survived!"_

"_Yeah, I know." The girl replied and then turned to look at the ceiling again. The doctor takes one last worried glance at her, and then leaves. When he is gone the girl whispers, "I would be grateful, except for the fact that it wasn't and accident and most definitely __**not**__ a miracle."_

_The image fast forwards a year and shows a brown haired girl playing alone in a playground. All the other kids skirt around her and look at her with disgust._

"_Look- that's her! The one who was dead and then came back to life! What a creep!" The kids whisper and then run off. The girl doesn't spare a glance at the other kids and keeps on playing by herself._

_A man shrouded in darkness watches the scene with blood red eyes._

_The image fast forwards again. A 9 year old Mai is playing happily with her friends. _

"_Mai, it's getting late I have to go home!" One by one, her friends leave her alone. She smiles sadly as she watches the last of them go. _

"_I finally have friends after so long; I had almost forgotten what it felt like." _

"_You should thank me, you know." Mai doesn't speak as a man with red eyes suddenly appears behind her where before there had been nothing but shadows. "Because of my help you're alive and you have friends. Without my help you would have never been able to move from that awful neighborhood or live by yourself either for that matter."_

"_I know. I really am thankful- even though you made me pay you back for you kindness." At this, Mai looked scared as some memories came to mind. "Soon, though, I'll be old enough to depend on myself and won't have to bother you anymore."_

"_Yeah… You should go home, Mai, it's getting dark." The man watched the sun set and the shadows lengthen._

"_Just a little longer." Mai insisted._

"_That was an __**order**__." At the last word, the man's eyes turn an angry red._

_At this, Mai started to walk jerkily- almost against her will. "Alright, I'm going."_

_The man watched Mai disappear from his sight and then blended into the shadows again. The last thing part of him that disappeared was his eyes, which glowed one final time as if in warning to not mess with him._

Naru's POV

"MAI!" I caught Mai as she fell down. What had happened? One moment she was fine and then she collapsed.

As I carried her to the couch, Lin came out and gave me a questioning look, his eyes widening as he saw Mai in my arms. "What happened?"

"I don't know." I growled as I put her down on the couch. Mai cried out in her sleep as I sat one the chair next to the couch. "Do you think it could be one of _those_ dreams?"

"Maybe," Lin nodded. "But I haven't heard of her just collapsing from it before, though. Usually she's already sleeping before she has one."

"We'll just have to ask her when she wakes up," I said. But I was certain that this wasn't ordinary. Before she had collapsed, Mai had been clutching her chest as if it had been in pain. Maybe she was sick? 'Wait. What am I doing thinking about her so much?! I have work to do; she'll just have to wait until later. But….. maybe I should do it here, in case she panics when she wakes up.'

I got up and went to my office to get my laptop and files and then sat down on the chair next to the couch and began to work.

Normal POV

Mai groaned as she woke up, her head was aching and every part of her body was throbbing. 'Thank you heart, for putting me through all this enjoyable pain,' she though sarcastically.

"Are you okay?" Mai noticed that Naru had been working on the chair next to the couch. 'He must have been worried. Wait-never mind, this _is_ Naru we're talking about.'

"Yeah I'm fine, I guess the stress must have finally caught up to me. You know- the school and work thing." Mai didn't like lying, but she couldn't exactly tell the truth.

Naru narrowed his eyes. He had already noticed that she was lying about it being stress. 'She isn't telling me something.'

"Well, I think that I'm going to go home now… It is past 8:00pm…." Mai laughed nervously and bolted out the door with her things before Naru could question her.

Naru frowned at her unusual behavior. 'I'll definitely find out what happened tomorrow. I don't like being kept in the dark.'

As she raced home, Mai thought about the voice she had heard before she collapsed. '_I'm coming…'_

She shivered. 'There's no way that he could be coming! Right? Of course not! He has things to do over _there_. He can't be finished yet. Yeah, that's right. It would be stupid of him to abandon his responsibilities and come here.'

With this new resolve, Mai went into her apartment. She didn't notice a cat had followed her all the way from SPR to her house. It's fur was darker than night and it had red eyes. When the cat was sure she wasn't going anywhere else, it started to walk towards a wall. A hole opened and the cat walked straight through it.

"Did you find her?" A man wearing a cloak came out of the shadows. He had raven colored hair and a handsome, almost beautiful face, but what stood out most about him were his blood red eyes. They had a depth that could not be rivaled, filled with the darkest emotions. The cat purred against his leg. "Good…. You better be ready Mai. I'm coming…"

**Naru: I don't like it.**

**RoseThorn: WHAT?! I PUT MY HEART AND SOUL INTO THAT CHAPTER!**

**Mai: *unhappy* I didn't know that you hated me this badly! WHYYYYYYYY?**

**RoseThorn: *effectively ignoring Mai to keep from feeling guilty* You just don't like that you don't know anything *smug***

**Naru: No I don't like it because it has no quality… I mean you haven't even thought of a name for **_**him**_** yet. *annoyed as Mai runs into his arms sobbing once again***

**RoseThorn: *whispering to everyone reading* If you want me to win this argument help me find a Japanese name for **_**him**_** and REVIEW! Please! *puppy dog eyes***


	4. Chapter 4

**RoseThorn: I guess my inner Naru's whining finally caught up to me… He really wants to know more about what's going on.**

**Naru: Finally.*anger clouding judgment* Wait… Did you just say that I whine?**

**Mai: *frantic* Calm down Naru… It's okay, I don't think you whine. *whispers to fans* But I don't want to make Rose angry. *Talking to Naru again* Please read this note out loud. *puppy dog eyes***

**Naru: *reads note quickly and throws it away* Hmph. RoseThorn doesn't own Ghost Hunt.**

**RoseThorn: *whispers in delight* He actually did it! *cue squeal***

Normal POV- A dark world (**A/N **I'm not telling you what it's called just yet)

In a land filled with darkness, one thing stood out. A giant castle jutted out from the barren black surrounding it. It radiated immense power, and stood intimidating and menacingly, towering higher than most mortals could see. Inside the castle was a giant hall, a throne room really. At the end of the hall, there lay a devastatingly beautiful chair. It was delicate but strong, beautiful but ugly- but that wasn't what caught most the most attention. No, what caught the most attention was the 'person' sitting on the throne.

A 'man' that was so beautiful that humans would call him inhumane if they ever lay eyes on him sat on the throne. Raven black hair framed a pale face with high cheekbones, pure red lips, and beautiful blood red eyes.

"Master, the arrangements have been made for you to go to the human realm," a black fog like substance made an appearance in the throne room.

"Good, I have already thought of the name I will use while I'm there…. From now on, until further notice, my name is Erai Akuma (**A/N** Yeah….. I just took 2 names and put them together)." The man smiled, his face lighting up as he did so, making him look even more beautiful- if such a thing was possible. "I will decide my appearance and personality when I get to the human realm, so you'll just have to find me by my aura if a problem arises. Understood?"

"Of course, Master," The black fog like substance almost seemed like it was bowing.

"You can go now." The man's face once again sported a disinterested expression. There was no trace of the smile from before.

'Master only smiles while thinking of the human realm. Though that's probably because that girl Taniyama Mai lives there…' The black fog started to disappear still lost in thought, and soon there was no trace of it at all.

The man on the thrown, newly named Erai Akuma, stood up and started to walk towards the left wall. As he did, a hole opened up. On the other side of the hole, you could see the busy lives of humans going on, a place full of life completely different from the one he was currently in. Erai Akuma walked through the hole, and, as soon as he stepped on the other side, his appearance completely changed.

His hair turned blond, his eyes blue, and though he still had the pale and handsome face, his beauty considerably dimmed. He no longer had the disinterested expression he had before. He now had a mishevious, energetic expression in his eyes- a complete opposite personality from the one before. He caught his reflection on the window of a building and smiled at himself (**A/N **Whoa… I just made a second narcissist appear!). 'This will have to work. I'm not as beautiful as before, but that makes sense as my real face would catch a lot of attention… Now I'm ready to see Mai again….. But maybe I should observe her first. I'm really interested in how she lives.

And so, with a mischievous expression, Erai Akuma started to walk slowly down the street, heading towards Mai's apartment.

At Mai's Apartment

Mai had woken up with a HUMOUNGOUS migraine. She didn't know whether it was because of the memories that had been stirred the day before, or because she had still been worrying even after he had made up her mind that _he_ wouldn't come.

That was why when Mai had finally made it to SPR, late as usual, and saw Naru waiting there to possibly interrogate her about the events that had transpired the day before, she was in **no** mood to talk.

"Mai-" Naru started only to be interrupted when a dark, dark, DARK glare was shot to him from his current subject of interest. His eyes narrowed and, as he wasn't one to back down from a challenge, he glared back. And so began the glaring contest, where the 2 competitors didn't move until, possibly, the bravest person in the world came out of his office, started at him for a while, and decided to cough.

Immediately, the spell was broken, and Mai brushed past Naru and silently went to the kitchen to make teas. Naru and Lin stared after her.

"Well…. That was new," Lin was commented with surprise.

He was only rewarded with a grunt as Naru went back to his office. 'I'll question her when she comes back with the tea.'

Outside of the office, a very amused blond haired teenager had been watching the whole thing.

**Naru: I thought you were going to give information.**

**RoseThorn:*ashamed* But I kind of did, didn't I? At least you know more….. And *happy* I got a name for **_**him**_**. It's Erai Akuma, as in lastname firstname like real Japanese people say…. Thank you everyone who sent me names! If you have any ideas for a case I'll be happy if you PM me…..**

**Naru: I knew you were stupid… You need help from your readers to make cases *smug***

**RoseThorn: Fine! Just wait until the next chapter, I'll give you more info.**

**Naru: Hmph….**

**Mai: *watching and talking to fans* Don't you think Naru's warming up to Rose? But it might just be that he's trying to get information….. What do you think? REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**RoseThorn: Hey! I'm back and schools almost over- just one more day to go!**

**Naru: You're an idiot, you still have summer school.**

**RoseThorn: Excuse me for being an idiot! I was going to give you all the information today, but I think I'll just wait for another chapter.**

**Mai: What do you mean you were going to give him all the information? I don't want to tell him!**

**Naru: *narrows eyes* Why not?**

**Mai: Well…..um…..You see- Oh look it's almost time to start! RoseThorn doesn't own Ghost Hunt everyone! Now ONWARDS!**

As Mai started making tea, her migraine and bad mood started to go away. Unfortunately, that meant that the courage that she had to glare at her boss disappeared too. All that was left was a very nervous, frantic assistant. 'What should I do?! I actually had the nerve to glare at Naru! Oh my god- he's going kill me! Maybe he'll let me get away easy if I apologize….. Maybe…'

She slowly poured the tea into Naru's cup and walked even slower toward her boss's door. 'Alright Mai- No use trying to prolong the inevitable, just walk in, give him his tea, and you know, apologize for _glaring_ at him.'

She reached her boss's door and took a deep calming breath as if preparing for a marathon. Then, she timidly knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the answer. Mai walked into his lai-office. She set the cup down and fidgeted nervously,

"Um… Naru I'm sorry about what happened during the morning. I was just a little frustrated about something." Mai's voice was barely over a whisper.

Naru raised an eyebrow. "You should be sorry. You have no right to behave that way towards your **boss**."

"You…" Mai stared at him fuming silently. "Can't you at least accept an apology politely?!"

Naru's answer was a smirk. "Why should I? You admitted yourself that you were wrong."

Mai didn't say anything this time….If she did, it wouldn't have been something nice which would have been totally hypocritical, and not to mention rude. Sh stomped out the door, slamming it behind her. Once outside of the office, she let out a screech of frustration.

The teenager who was watching from outside nearly died laughing.

***1:00pm***

Naru had decided that by now Mai had calmed down and was off guard. 'I want to know what happened yesterday.'

Naru moved through the doorway and watched Mai as she stared silently at the ceiling, her brow furrowed as she contemplated something.

"Mai." His voice cut through her thoughts like an arrow piercing through its target. "We need to talk."

Immediately, Mai became nervous, remembering what had happened the night before. "How could I forget something so important?'

"What happened yesterday? Tell me the truth. It definitely wasn't nothing."

"Um…" Mai furiously tried to think of an answer. 'I can't exactly tell a _ghosthunter_ that I have a demon's heart and it was acting up because the demon who gave it to me seems to be coming here!'

Naru walked to the couch Mai was sitting on and sat next to her. 'Looks like I'll have to force it out of her.'

"Mai." Mai looked at him, suddenly very aware how close he was. She could clearly see each individual eyelash that framed his dark blue eyes, his raven colored hair falling slightly over his eyes, his high cheekbones and smooth lips. Immediately, she started to lose herself in the depth of his eyes.

"Um…. Well….. You see…." She stuttered, her mind glowing blank.

"Tell me what's going on." Naru stared back at her unflinching, secretly pleased by her reaction.

"I can't!" She finally broke away from the pressure. 'I guess it's better to tell the truth. I mean, I really can't tell him. _He_ ordered me not to, and I can't disobey his orders. Literally….'

Naru's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you can't? Of course you can- that's what you have mouth for you know."

"Yes I do know that, for your information. What I mean is I literally can't say anything." Mai looked at him with pleading eyes. "If I try, I'll lose my voice and…."

'And my heart will start rebelling.'

"And?" Naru questioned. 'This is getting interesting..'

"I…. can't say," Mai choked out, starting to tear up.

Now Naru was even more curious and alarmed. What had happened to his assistant? It was interesting that she would tell him that she couldn't tell anyone, not that she didn't want to. And the fact about her body stopping her from saying anything was alarming. In fact, it was almost like she was saying that her body would rebel against her….

While Naru was thinking, Mai was too. About how much trouble she was in, even if it felt good to tell somebody. ' _He's_ probably watching all of this anyway,' she decided. 'After all, I can't ignore the evidence that says_ he's_ coming. I should find a way to tell Naru- he might be in danger now that he knows….. though I don't think that _he _would harm someone for that kind of reason. Wait! Now it won't work since my heart knows what I'm going to do. But I have to try!'

"Naru, about the thing I can't tell you about," Mai began caustiously, immediately catching Naru's attention. "The…. Person….who…caused…it….."

'Shimatta! It's getting harder to say things!' Mai fought for her voice.

"Yes?" Naru also noticed her wincing and slowing down. 'It looks like her body's trying to stop her.'

"_He's_…..coming." With that, she felt a sudden barrage of pain and collapsed. Naru caught her as she sagged against him, alarmed- but his face didn't show it. Lin, who had obviously been listening, instantly came from behind his office door, dropping his cover.

Lin stood by the couch as Naru got up and laid Mai down. When she was in a better position, he started to check her pulse and breathing. "It looks like she's okay."

"Yes," Naru replied staring at his assistant, he was no very, VERY alarmed (and worried, but he's never admit that), having seen the consequences of her speaking about the 'subject'.

"So, what do you think about what she said?" Lin asked his boss.

Instantly, Naru was all business again. "We need to find more information. According to her, the person who told her not to speak is coming. We can safely assume that it is because of this person- if _he_ is actually a human being at all- that she is having these troubles with her body. But, I don't think that he's actually a bad person, judging from the expression on his face to talk about him." This was true. Unknown to Mai, while she had been showing some fear, her face had also been filled with gratitude, cautious affection, and even fondness when she had been thinking about him. For some reason, at the thought of this, Naru's stomach twisted in an unpleasant way.

"The person will probably come see her, judging from what we've been told." Naru smirked, his conclusion complete.

"We have to be on guard for any unknown person who comes to see Mai," Lin said immediately understanding what Naru was saying.

"Yes," Naru replied, then turned and went back to his office, gathering his work and bringing it to the chair next to the couch. Lin smirked seeing this, which Naru refused to acknowledged. 'And maybe you'll realize what you feel for the girl.'

Outside of SPR

Erai Akuma smiled as he watched what had occurred. 'I hadn't expected that order from all those years ago to still be in effect now. I should lift the order when I see her….. I didn't expect her to live with that kind of secret all her life, after all. She has good friends, but I'm NOT giving her to that boy.' Akuma frowned when he thought of the expressions on the two's faces when they talked. 'She's MINE and it's about time that I'm part of her life again.'

**RoseThorn: HAHAHA! *singsong* NARU'S JEALOUS! NARU'S JEALOUS!**

**Naru: *glare* You are mistaken. I'm not jealous.**

**RoseThorn: *trying very hard not to laugh* Oh yes you so are! You had an 'unpleasant twisting sensation'- in other words jealousy!**

**Mai: *blushing* Um…. You're jealous of Akuma, Naru?**

**Naru: NO I'm not!**

**RoseThorn: Yeah, sure- keep saying that. Oh yeah, by the way, if you are confused about Akuma and Mai's relationship. Mai doesn't hate Akuma. The only reason she's afraid of him is because he's, you know, a DEMON and because he brings up some *cough* unpleasant memories for her. Other than that, I think I've shown you that he helped her A LOT in the past- you know, the part where he says that she should thank him for blah blah blah…..**

**Naru: Soooo, what type relationship **_**do**_** they have?**

**RoseThorn: Nice try Naru, I'm not telling you just to satisfy your jealousy.**

**Naru: For the last time *death glare* I'm not jealous.**

**RoseThorn: EEP! *grabs Mai and outs her in front of her as a shield* Don't kill me you'll hit Mai first!**

**Mai: Help meeeeeeee! If you want me to survive, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**RoseThorn: *laughing nervously as Naru rips Mai away from her* Y-you won't actually hurt me will you? I'm the author after all…**

**Naru: *very angry* We'll see.**

**Mai: *alarmed* Don't Naru!**

**Naru: *suddenly frozen as Mai hugs him to stop him from moving* **

**RoseThorn: It's only because of me that Mai's hugging you right now. Be thankful.**

**Naru: *looks away* You won't die today.**

**Mai: *still hugging Naru* RoseThorn doesn't own Ghost Hunt, though she wishes she did.**

Normal POV

When Mai finally woke up from her dreamless sleep, the first thing she saw was Naru sleeping on the chair next to the couch, his papers spread out on the low table. 'He was worried….'

Mai watched him sleep with a smile. When he was sleeping, Naru lost his usual stoic, cold expression. He seemed even more handsome, and had an air of defenselessness around him. As she sat up, Naru awoke, and he studied her, his usual emotionless façade back.

"I'll walk you home." The statement hung between them. Mai was surprised. 'Did I really make him worry that much? Wait- that can't be true, we're talking about Naru, after all… He's probably doing this because he doesn't want to lose an assistant and have to go through the trouble of finding another one.'

"O-ok," Mai stuttered. She got up and got her things and then started to the door. Naru followed her silently.

They walked through the streets in tense silence. Mai didn't know what to say, as all her attempts at conversation were being shot down with one word answers. When they got to her apartment complex, Mai stopped and searched for something to say.

"Bye Naru," she said, at last, lamely. Naru didn't respond, but watched her carefully as she made her way to her apartment and slipped inside. Then, he started to walk back to the office.

Akuma had watched the whole thing as he followed the two unsuspecting humans. 'That boy really can't express his feelings….. Maybe I'll help him a bit- it's not like I actually expect Mai to love me, I am a _demon_ after all. Tomorrow,' he decided. 'We'll meet again tomorrow, Mai.'

Next Day

Mai had woken up quite a few times last night, her dreams filled with memories, both good and bad. That was why she was exhausted when she reached SPR.

"You're late Mai," her narcissist boss observed from the doorway to his lai- office. (**A/N** Lin has a _cave_ and Naru has a_ lair _)

"Way to state the obvious," Mai shot back dryly. Naru didn't say anything, but raised an eyebrow.

"Mai," Naru called as his assistant as she set her stuff down. Mai looked at him questioningly. "Tea."

The effects of those two words were instantaneous. Mai glared at him before stomping into the kitchen and muttering about egotistical, narcissistic jerks. Naru smirked and made his way back to the office, closing the door behind him.

**Later in the afternoon**

Mai was bored. Very bored. The kind of bored where you want to scream at all the narcissist bosses in the world that are picky and refuse to take cases unless they interest them.

They had a client come in earlier, but Naru had turned her down saying that her kids were probably playing tricks on her. The woman had left sobbing and as soon as she had left, Naru had the nerve to look completely unaffected and ask her for tea, _again_, as if he hadn't had tea just 5 minutes ago.

"Mai, I don't pay you to be lazing around." Naru was standing at the doorway to his office.

"If there was something to do, I'd do it," Mai replied.

Naru smirked and instantly wanted to take her words back. "Then why don't I give you some work? Go rearrange all the books on the shelves and don't forget to clean the shelves." He gestured to two large shelves against the wall.

"What?!" Mai screeched. Naru just smirked and started to go back in. He was just reaching the door, when he happened to glance back and stop at the sight before him.

The stress from the last few days had been building up, and the last remark had finally broke any stamina Mai had left. Mai started to cry quietly, while Naru froze like a deer caught in headlights. As this was going on, Lin was unfortunate enough to come out of his office. He took one look at the scene before him and instantly went back to his cav- office. 'Naru can fend for himself… I hope.'

Meanwhile, Naru was torn between going to his office and hiding or doing something to make Mai stop crying. Though he would never admit it, he hated to see Mai cry. Finally, he awkwardly walked over to Mai, who noticed and tilted her head adorably (though he would never admit this too) in confusion.

Naru stood there trying to figure out what to do when he had an idea. "You remember my pet?"

He held out a coin in his fingers and watched as Mai's eyes lit up in recognition. Then he led the way to the couch and sat down with Mai next to him. Soon, the tears were forgotten as he showed her tricks with the coin. The coin flipped up and disappeared, talked and hid, and soon Mai was smiling happily as she watched Naru play with the coin.

Finally Naru stopped, much to Mai's disappointment. "Alright, since you're feeling better, go do what I told you to."

Naru gently wiped off the remaining tears on her cheeks with a soft look in his eyes that made Mai catch her breath. Mai blushed and nodded and Naru straightened and walked to his office.

In his office, Lin shook his head and smiled. 'Who knew that Naru would use the same trick he used to make Gene feel better on Mai?'

Naru had just reached the doorway to his office when the door to SPR opened. A blond teenager with a mischievous smile stepped in. "Hello. Is Taniyama Mai here?"

Naru stared at the teen, then looked at Mai who had frozen at the sound of the voice. Slowly she turned around and when she saw him, she stiffened, a flash of alarm in her eyes. "You…"

**Akuma: HAHAHA! I LIIIIIIVEEEEE!**

**Mai: Kyaaaaa! *jumps behind Naru***

**Naru: *narrows eyes* Who are you?**

**RoseThorn: Really? I'm disappointed in you Naru. You still don't know who he is after all the stuff I wrote?**

**Akuma: *sneaks behind Naru and hugs Mai* Awwww! Did you miss me?**

**Naru: *tugs Mai away from Akuma* Don't touch her.**

**Akuma: *tugs Mai back* Don't tell a demon what to do.**

**Mai: *Naru and Akuma each pulling a hand in the opposite direction* Help!**

**RoseThorn: You should see this- I don't need a TV anymore! REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**RoseThorn: *sweatdropping* You have know idea how hard it is to get those two to stop fighting one another- it's continuous! Oh no- here they go again. I take back that comment about not needing a TV anymore, I like all fights safely behind a screen where **_**certain PK users**_** can't trash my room. Any way- the moment of truth! The next few chapters will have more information than you'll know what to do with! Aren't you happy Naru? ...Naru?**

**Naru: *glaring at Akuma***

**Akuma: *glaring at Naru***

**Mai: *stuck somewhere in the middle- terrified* At this point in time, RoseThorn is very glad she doesn't own Ghost Hunt.**

Normal POV

"What are you doing here?!"Mai was alarmed. She hadn't expected _him_ to come so soon.

"Who is he Mai?" Naru was irritated for some unknown reason.

"He's-" Mai had been intending to tell him exactly who he was- she didn't _want_ to keep it a secret anymore- but her voice was gone.

"He's who?" Naru stared at Mai as she opened her mouth again, only to have nothing come out.

'Ah, I see.' Naru had pieced together the evidence.

"Mai, I lift the order that forbids you from speaking about your- ahem- _circumstances_," the teen said in an unusually formal tone. Instantly, all the effects were gone, Mai could speak and move again. The teen turned to Naru. "Hello, I am Erai Akuma. Pleased to meet you."

"That's an….. interesting name," Naru said narrowing his eyes. (**A/N** Erai means terrible and Akuma means demon.)

"Actually, very fitting, considering it fits me perfectly," Akuma returned. "Now Mai, you should at least hug me now that I'm back."

Mai stiffly walked over to Akuma and put her arms around him. As soon as Akuma's arms were around her, though, she relaxed a little. "Now, now Mai, you didn't think I'd be mad at you for disobeying an order that I meant to retract years ago, did you?"

Mai relaxed fully, in relief. "That's good."

Naru had been watching all of this with narrowed eyes, his irritation growing. "Erai-san, I suggest you unhand my assistant."

"Of course," Akuma narrowed his eyes back.

"Mai, explain." Naru wanted to know exactly what was going on. What Akuma had said earlier had aroused his suspicions.

"Yeah, Mai, tell him the truth, I think he'll burst from anger if you don't answer all his questions." Akuma looked at Mai amused. Mai was on the spot. 'What do I do?! I can't tell him! He's a ghost hunter."

"Yes you can, I'm no ordinary demon. Or do you not trust me?" Akuma's thoughts cut through hers. Mai remembered that having a demon's heart meant knowing sharing everything about him- being a part of him.

Out loud Akuma spoke, knowing that Mai would never tell anyone if she could help herself- not after what had happened last time. "Mai, that's an order."

Instantly, Mai stiffened. "As you say."

Naru had been watching the whole exchange (including the silent one) and, while all of this was happening, Lin had also come out of his office.

'I hate you.'

'I know.'

Mai flashed a look of irritation at Akuma before she began. "As you probably know by now, _Akuma- sama_ is a demon. When I was young, my mother and I were in a staged car accident where I died directly from the impact. My mother unknowingly called Akuma- sama and made a deal with him on my behalf to, for a price, save me before she died herself. This is why Akuma- sama gave me one of his hearts and I'm alive right now."

Naru and Lin were slightly stunned by this information, shown by the slight widening of their eyes. Naru snapped to his senses faster. "And what was the price?"

He had also noticed her say it was a _staged_ car accident, but that should probably be brought up later. From the glance Lin gave him, Naru knew that he had noticed too.

"The price was being an extra limb of his. Since I have one of his hearts, I'm technically a part of him. I have no free will. I'm lucky that Akuma- sama lets me do what I want." As she said this, Mai's face became emotionless.

"One of his hearts?" Lin questioned.

"Yes, because Akuma- sama is so powerful that even humans know him, he has an infinite amount of hearts. He's impossible to kill, and, since I have his heart, I'm not capable of dying." Mai's face was filled with sadness now.

By now, Naru and Lin were shocked, though they didn't show it. "This is interesting information…."

Naru was thinking hard. 'If the paranormal society knew about this, there would be chaos.'

"I would like to request that you keep quiet about this or else I'll be forced to take measures to ensure you do," Akuma said, his eyes narrowing as he studied Naru.

"Of course," Lin said. "We understand what would happen if this situation is made public. If you don't mind me asking, what's the name that humans have for you?"

"That's for me to know and for you find out." Akuma flashed them a mocking grin. "You know, if I decide to trust you- though I think even you should know my name. It's very well known."

Akuma then turned to Mai and smirked. Mai saw this and, associating that smirk with trouble, nervously started to stepped backward to hide behind Naru.

"Now then Mai, I was hoping you would let me stay at your home, since I have no place to reside in."

Mai flashed him an irritated look, not seeing Naru glare at Akuma since she was behind him. "Of course Akuma- sama," she fake smiled. "Here are my keys, you can go there _now_ if you wish."

"Oh no, _Mai- san_, I would like to stay here. Since I haven't seen you in soooo long, I would like to spend as much time as possible with you. Which brings me to my next point." He turned to Naru and Lin once more. "Would it trouble you if I started to work here? It would be beneficial to both of us after all. You don't want a demon running loose do you? And I'm guessing I'll be very helpful during cases- I can even give you very interesting cases if you're bored."

Naru stared at him. 'He's making good points, but why do I feel the need to kick him out right now when I look at him?' (**A/N** You're jealous, dear, jealous.)

"I think it would be in our best interest if you worked here," Lin answered for Naru, knowing very well what was going through his mind. 'We can't have him refusing out of jealousy.'

Naru threw a warning look at Lin. "Why would you intentionally tell us about cases, though?"

"Let's just say I oversee all demons and have to get rid of the ones that cause unnecessary trouble," Akuma replied.

Naru narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. 'What's he hiding? Well, I could always ask Mai.'

Almost as if he could hear what Naru was thinking, Akuma poked his head behind Naru, where Mai was hiding. "Mai, I order you to not say anything about who I am until I tell them myself."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Yes, Akuma- sama."

"And drop the –sama," Akuma added.

Mai growled under her breath quietly so no one but Naru heard her. Lin had been watching the interaction between the three, 'Looks like thinks are going to be interesting around here…..'

XxX

**A/N** I was going to stop here, but I'm going to add the next chapter for Xx8CrImSoN8xX ;)

XxX

Naru POV (**A/N** I think Naru has an interesting mind)

I was irritated. No, actually, I wasn't irritated, I was angry. The demon Akuma had just appeared yesterday and hadn't left _her_ side since. This somehow made my mood turn murderous. I didn't understand why either, so I became even more enraged.

"Mai, tea." I called through the office door.

"_Hai._" Soon there was a steaming cup of tea in front of me. Mai stared at me clearly uncomfortable. "Um… Naru I'm sorry about Akuma. Somehow, I guess he's put you in a bad mood."

"Mai, that doesn't matter. Of course I wouldn't be in a bad mood because there's a _demon_ in my office," I said, my tone clearly full of sarcasm, even though I myself didn't know why I was mad.

My blushed and hung her head, her hair covering her eyes. "I'm s-sorry."

"What's wrong now?" I kept my voice level, not showing the guilt starting to stir inside of me.

Mai stared at me for a minute before evidently deciding to tell me what was on her mind. "It's just that s-since I have a d-demon heart, I'm also a d-demon."

I stared at her placidly, clearly seeing the mistake I made. "Mai, you don't count- you're to dumb to do harm."

Mai stared at me angrily. "What makes you say that? I can cause a lot of damage if I want to! Clearly you forgot that I share _everything_ with Akuma!"

The mere mention of that _thing_ made my mood turn sour again.

"Oh, is that right?" I scoffed. "Too bad you're too dumb to even think about using whatever powers you have to harm people."

Mai's eyes turned murderous, but she didn't say anything. I watched as her face went from annoyed to angry to realization to happy. Her face is so easy to read, I could almost tell what she was thinking.

"You're trying to make me feel better, aren't you Naru?"

My eyes widened a bit betraying my shock as that was exactly what I was trying to do.

"Of course not, I couldn't care less about your feelings."

Mai just smiled and what she did surprised me even more. She suddenly hugged me and whispered 'thank you' in my ear and then dashed out the door. I was left dazed as I tried to wrap my head around what had happened and more importantly, what I felt about it.

Finally, I took a sip from the cup of tea and muttered under my breath, "Baka."

Normal POV

Mai walked all the way to her desk and sat down before she allowed herself to think about what she had just done. A furious blush coated her face.

'Next thing you know, smoke will be coming out of your ears.'

Mai whirled around to glare at the 'person' whose though had been projected to her. 'This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't suggested that he was trying to make me feel better!'

Akuma just smirked at her. 'I was right though.'

"So have you figured out what you're going to tell the rest of your friends yet?" He spoke aloud this time. Seeing Mai's puzzled look he explained. "You know: the monk, miko, priest, researcher, and medium. There's a chance they might sense my presence." (**A/N** Come on, you didn't think I forgot them did you?)

"Why don't you just hide it?" Mai questioned. 'I don't want to tell them. They might be disgusted. Actually, I know Masako will be disgusted. We might have made up a little while Naru was gone, but we technically haven't reached the point of becoming friends yet- we just tolerate one another. She might even try to convince everyone to exorcise us.'

'That won't happen, I'm way to powerful of a demon for that.' Akuma's silent reassurance reached her. Mai looked up and showed him her memories of what Masako was like and how she acted towards her. 'If that's the way it is, then we should tell Naru and Lin about it.'

"Alright," Mai sighed. Akuma looked at her with a mischievous smile. 'I'll go get them Mai.'

Mai watched warily as he went into Lin's office first, then Naru's. He walked out of Naru's office with the famous (irritated) narcissist himself in tow and Lin appeared soon after.

"What is it?" Naru asked impatiently. "Unlike some people, I have work to do."

"Oh, don't be like that Naru (insert Naru glaring at Akuma for dropping honorifics), the only reason we don't have anything to do is because we finished it," Akuma said happily, but then turned serious. "Actually, we have to talk about what you're going to tell the rest of your team about me. There's a small chance they may sense me. After all, I can hide myself, but I may slip up sometimes."

Naru thought about this. "Then we'll just have to tell them the truth."

Akuma glanced worriedly at Mai. "I'm warning you now- if any of them, well, react badly….. I might lose my temper."

"And _that_ is something I don't ever want to see again," Mai interjected. Naru raised an eyebrow at this. Seeing his look, Mai explained, "The last time he lost his temper, we were in another dimension he kind of destroyed the whole dimension- as in it winked out of existence. And just so you know, I don't think he was event hat angry that time…."

Naru and Lin didn't say anything to this, they didn't know how to react. "Alright…. We still have to tell them the truth though," Naru decided.

"We probably shouldn't tell Masako seeing how her relationship with Mai is," Lin said. Mai secretly sighed in relief.

"Yes….. that's true," Naru mused. "Not that I want anything to do with her after she blackmailed me."

Mai stared at Naru. 'I can't believe he's being so open.'

'That must mean that he trusts you,' Akuma teased.

Mi blushed at this and glared at Akuma who just smirked back. 'Seriously, it's like you and Naru team up to make fun of me. Though Naru is meaner about it.'

'Who knows,' Akuma thought cryptically.

Naru on the other hand was watching this silent conversation with growing irritation. He didn't like it when her didn't know what was going on and more importantly it was that _thing_ and Mai that were 'talking'. "I would appreciate it if you spoke out loud."

Mai and Akuma looked at him- Mai startled and Akuma smug.

"S-sorry Naru," Mai mumbled.

Naru let out a sight of annoyance. "Anyway, we'll tell everyone except Hara- san who we will not call unless absolutely necessary. (**A/N** Sorry about the harsh treatment to Masako, guys. I just think that her personality will make it turn out like this. And… she kind of irritates me a bit.)

Mai and Akuma nodded to show that they agreed. Akuma thought it would be fun to irritate Naru a _little_ more. So, ignoring a warning glance from Mai, he started. "Naru, I just wanted to tell you. Since I'm a powerful demon and all, I'm more advanced than _humans_ so I'll probably be done with any work you have for me in an hour tops. Same goes for Mai if she wants actually. Also you don't have to call the medium at all. I can act like one for you. Nothing is able to hide from me."

Naru glared at Akuma. 'One irritating medium got rid of and another one takes her place.'

Out loud, he said with a voice laced with venom, "Thank you, _ Erai- san,_ I'll keep that in mind."

Mai shook her head in exasperation. 'Your antics are going to get me killed. Probably from being worked to death.'

'But you can't die," Akuma reminded her cheerfully.

'Don't remind me- that means I'll be tortured,' Mai sighed heavily.

"Well if that's all there is, we should get back to work," Lin said trying to defuse the argument that was brewing between the two males.

"Yes," Mai and Akuma chimed together.

Naru just grunted and went back to his lai- office. Lin rolled his eyes and went back to his respective office as well. Mai and Akuma continued to do whatever they did when they were bored.

Then two words made the boredom disappear entirely. "Mai, tea."

"TEA ADDICTED, EGOISTACAL, NARCISSTIC JERK!"

**RoseThorn: You know it's getting harder to write insults for Naru. I feel like I'm repeating the same thing.**

**Naru: It's because I'm perfect.**

**RoseThorn: No, I'm pretty sure that's not why.**

**Mai: It's okay Rose, you'll figure something out.**

**Akuma: Yeah *hugs Mai and receives glare from Naru***

**RoseThorn: Naru, if you really don't like it when he does that, why don't you hug her first?**

**Naru: Who'd want to hug someone so stupid?**

**Mai: I'm sorry for being so **_**stupid**_**. Like I'd want to hug you anyway.**

**Naru: *smiles smugly* You do want to do it because I'm so handsome.**

**Akuma: If you want to do it that way, I'm more handsome than you in my true form.**

**RoseThorn: Naru don't start another argument just because you're jealous.**

**Naru: *glares* I'm not jealous.**

**RoseThorn: Oh, yeah? Watch this everyone.**

***Akuma hugs Mai again***

**Naru: *annoyed* Get away from her.**

**Akuma: *stares at Naru then smirks mockingly* No, Mai is **_**mine**_**.**

**Naru: *growls***

**RoseThorn: What do you care Naru? It's not like you're in **_**love**_** with her.**

**Mai: *suddenly interested* Is that true Naru?**

**Naru: Of course not- who would fall for someone stupid like you?**

**Mai: *starting to tear up***

**Akuma: *glaring at Naru***

**RoseThorn: Now look what you did. There's no reason to take it out on her because you are in denial. Lin-san please do the honors.**

**Lin: *sitting in the corner and previously ignored as if invisible* If you want Mai to stop crying then review.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Just an Idea!

**So this is just something that came to mind while I was thinking about the next chapter for A Demon's Heart. Read it and tell me what you think.**

Normal POV (At SPR after Naru comes back from England)

Mai was serving tea to the other team members of SPR when the call came. Everyone was in the reception room, even Naru and Lin. The latter had come out when it became apparent that no one was leaving and the disturbing noises that made one think that the whole office was being destroyed would not stop coming from the other side of the door until they left.

Mai was now serving tea to everyone, and she had just set the cup down when a phone rang loudly. All the people in the room looked at their phones, confused.

"It isn't mine," Ayako stated.

"Mine either," Monk agreed.

"Or mine," John and Yasuhara said together.

Those four looked at Masako, Lin, and Naru.

"I turned my phone off," huffed Masako. Lin and Naru merely looked back.

"Oh! Sorry guys, it's mine," Mai laughed nervously and waved her phone which was still ringing. When she looked at the caller's number though, her face paled and sighed exasperatedly. "What trouble did he get himself into now?"

Everyone in the room stared at her, most specifically Naru, thinking the same thing. 'Mai has a phone! And who's he?'

Mai accepted the call and put it to her ear… only to pull it away quickly as frantic yelling and sounds of guns and shouting came through. "Yuki, calm down! I can't understand what you're saying! Wait- are those gunshots!?"

The person on the other end became quieter, but only a little. Mai held the phone a little way from her ear and listened. The rest of the room was quiet so everyone could hear what the caller was saying. A male's voice spoke quickly through the phone, "Mai, help me! I was walking home and I heard gunshots, so I naturally went to check right? And the next thing I know I'm stuck in a gunfight! The Okumura gang and Kamiko gang that have been squabbling over their borders have decided to go all out!"

"Wait- let me get this straight," Mai said, her voice ominously calm and her left eyebrow twitching. The SPR team stiffened as they caught sight of the death glare she was sending the phone (all except Lin and Naru, of course). The whole team was listening closely to the conversation- they were shocked that sweet Mai was involved in this type of situation (and the expression she was wearing).

"You heard _gunshots_ and so thought it was _natural_ to walk _towards_ it instead of going to call the police like a _normal_ person would have done! And," Her voice had risen with anger as she spoke. Now, as she spoke again, her voice was laced with deadly venom. "And now… you're surprised that you're in the middle of a gunfight? Are you stupid? Wait- don't even answer that. This is exactly like the time when you got kidnapped by the Moriyama gang because you decided to follow a group of them 'to see what they were up to'!"

The team was silent, every time she spoke, they had flinched at her tone (except Naru and Lin- do I even need to keep saying this?). The whole room felt bad for the person on the other end of the phone. However, they were now listening even more intently to the conversation. The Moriyama gang was the 'head' of all the gangs in Tokyo. It was well known since it was the cause of more than half of all the murders, thievery, and crime in the city.

"I had to rescue you then too! You're you made it out alive of that one. The only reason the let you go was because they knew that they should be scared of me! If not for yourself, at least stop getting into trouble for me! Do you know how tiring it is getting you out of trouble?!" Mai had totally forgotten where she was.

"Oh come on Mai! At least come help me first!" The tiny voice from the phone wailed. The sounds of gunshot became louder as if to prove his point. "Waah! That was a close one!"

Mai's face became void of emotion, it looked a lot like Naru's at that moment. "All right, give me 5 minutes." She smirked. "It's a good thing I put a tracker on you."

"THANK YOU! Wait- you put a tracker on me!? Mai-" The boy's voice and the other background noises were cut off as Mai closed the phone. She looked around the room, whose occupants were stunned to silence. Then, her face still emotionless, she talked to Naru, ignoring everyone else. "Something came up, so I have to go….. _now_."

Without giving him a chance to answer, she walked straight to the coat rack and put on her jacket, taking out a gun of all things out of the pocket and another one from the sleeve. There was a loud click across the room as she took off the safety. Then she walked out of the office.

The people in the office looked at each other, then, in silent agreement, got up and followed her, Naru and Lin leading the way.

**Sooooo? What do you think? Should I make a story out of it? Please review and tell me! Oh, I'll update story soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**RoseThorn: *happy* Thank you everyone who reviewed. I've decided to start that story after I've finished this one… That might be a long time from now *tearing up* I know where I want this story to end and everything but I have no idea how to get there!**

**Naru: Idiot.**

**RoseThorn: *full out crying* And I had to move this past week and had summer school and we had no Wi-Fi so the internet wasn't working!**

**Mai: *sympathetic* It's alright Rose, you'll figure it out.**

**Naru: She's an idiot.**

**Mai: *just ignores Naru* Rose do you hear a bug? I hear a bug- we should go crush it.**

**RoseThorn: *sweatdropping* Are you still hung up on what he said last time? You know, he doesn't really thing you're an idiot right? And he's totally in love with you.  
**

**Naru: I am not.**

**RoseThorn: *glares at him* Not helping Naru. *Looks at Mai* You know what, I'll have talk with this bug of yours and set him straight, ok? Why don't you go home, like Akuma and Lin.**

**Mai: *nods and then looks at the audience* Before I go, RoseThorn does not own Ghost Hunt. **

Normal POV

A week had passed since Akuma had come. Now things were setting into a normal routine- if you could having a demon in your life normal. Mai and Akuma had just gotten to work and Mai was in the process of making tea when a customer arrived.

"Hello, welcome to SPR!" Mai and Akuma chimed.

"H-hello, I'm Otori Kaname." Kaname looked nervous and tired.

"Please sit down, I'll go get my boss." Mai gestured to the couch and then knocked on Lin and Naru's door. Akuma went to finish the tea Mai had been making (since he could read Mai's mind, he knew exactly how to make it).

Mai came back with Naru and Lin following. Naru sat down opposite to Kaname and Lin opened his laptop. "What's you problem?" asked Naru.

Kaname looked at Naru surprised. "You're the boss?"

"Yes, I am." Naru snapped impatiently. Then he continued with fake politeness. "Now, if you please. Your problem?"

"O-oh right." Kaname looked nervous again.

Mai smiled at him as she set down the cups of tea down and then sat down on the other side of Naru.

Kaname looked at her gratefully and then began his story. "You see, I just bought an old house and strange things have been happening. Whenever there's a mess, it cleans itself. I often see will-o-wisps, and the rooms keep changing places. Once, I went to sleep on the first floor, and when I woke up, I found the room had moved to the third floor!"

Mai looked at Naru and saw that he seemed interested. "Is that all?"

"No- there's one more thing." Kaname looked around nervously. "Before I bought the mansion, no one had set foot on the lands for more than 50 years. I was expecting to have to fix up a lot. But, when I got there, the place was completely clean- as If it had never been abandoned in the first place!"

Naru snapped his notebook closed. "We'll take the case. Leave your information with my assistants."

He and Lin got up and went back to their respective offices. Kaname eagerly gave the location and number of the mansion.

"We'll need a room with lots of electrical outlets and 2 rooms for the boys and girls to sleep in," Mai informed him.

"Alright, but I can't assure you that the rooms will always be where they're meant to be," Kaname agreed.

After he left, Akuma laughed. "Looks like you'll be telling the truth to your friends sooner than you thought, Mai."

Mai pouted. "Shut up."

"This case should be easy. All I have to do is set foot in the place and I'll know everything about it- past, present and future- after all."

"You better let them work it out themselves. Remember that we're not allowed to interfere with humans," Mai warned.

"Good thing the rule includes you too, now that I'm here. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair." Akuma joked. Mai glared at him, starting to pick up the tea cups.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The two looked up surprised. They hadn't seen Naru leaning against the doorway to his office, listening to the whole conversation.

"It means that we'll know everything the moment we'll set foot there, but we'll only give you clues to the real situation," Akuma explained. "Don't worry, it'll be exactly how it normally is when you solve case."

Naru narrowed his eyes and stared at the two. Mai looked away and added something. "If you get off track we'll put you back on it is what he's trying to say. I'll still get the dreams and he'll be able to sense the spirits, but we can't tell you the who, what, where, and why. You'll have to figure that out."

Naru grunted. "Fine, as long as you don't make things harder."

"Don't worry, it might actually be easier," Mai reassured him.

"Yeah. We can even be those people you call exorcists if you want us to- our uses are unlimited," Akuma joked.

Mai stared at Naru and he returned her gaze, his eyes softening as he read the nervousness in her eyes. "Don't worry. You're two are too useful to be fired."

"What?! I'm not a TOOL!" Mai exclaimed angrily.

"So you think," Naru chuckled. Secretly, he was relieved that she was starting to go back to normal.

"You're so annoying!" Mai proclaimed.

"Mai, tea." Naru ordered coldly.

"You should learn how to make your own tea!" Mai said as she stumped her way to the kitchen.

"Make me some too, Mai," Akuma called after her.

"Whatever," came the answer.

Akuma laughed… then noticed that Naru glared at him before going back to his office. 'This place is really interesting…..'

**RoseThorn: Yay! The first case! *looks around and only sees Naru and deflates* Booo, no ones here. **

**Naru: It's not nice to ignore people.**

**RoseThorn: Whatever. According to Mai, you're a bug. Nothing more, nothing less. *smirks as she sees Naru wince* Oh yeah, I said I was going to set you straight. You are in for the lecture of a lifetime young man. All the fans are going to help me here too. *looks at fans with puppy dog eyes while Naru sweatdrops* Help me lecture him please- REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**RoseThorn: *in an interrogation room with Naru strapped to the only chair in the room, lecturing* -and you should know by now that Mai is very sensitive so she's very easily hurt. Never make her cry again, you jerk! Don't you want to be with her? Aren't you in love with her?**

**Naru: No I'm not.**

**RoseThorn: *groans* Why?! Why are you so stubborn?! What did I do to the author of Ghost Hunt to make her make you like this?! Naru, admit your feelings already or I'll be forced to make Mai be with Akuma. *stops as she sees a dark aura emanating from Naru* Yeah. That's right, you don't want that do you? Just be nicer to her, alright?**

**Naru: *sullen* Fine**

**RoseThorn: Good. See, it won't be hard. Don't worry as long as I can make you nice somehow, you can be with Mai, okay? *shields her eyes* Woah. You guys, a miracle is happening. I see a garden blooming around Naru even though his face is still cold. Have I finally gone crazy?**

**Naru: *rolls eyes as interrogation room disappears and Rose's room takes its place* Just start writing already.**

**RoseThorn: Fine. Oh yeah, I have a favor to ask you all... READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END. THERE'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION(S?) THERE! PINKY PROMISE ME YOU WILL!**

Normal POV

Mai shifted nervously as she waited for the rest of the team to appear at the office. 'I hope this goes well...It probably won't. I can't believe I have to tell exorcists that I have a demon's heart.'

She winced at the thought of all the possible reactions that the people that she had come to call family could have. 'Hey, if anything, they won't be repelled by you, but by the fact that you have _my_ heart- I'm the one that should be preparing here.'

Mai looked at Akuma guiltily, realizing he was right. 'I'm sorry. But if they reject you they might as well be rejecting me! I won't stand for it if they say bad things about you!'

Akuma grinned at her. 'Aww, you care about me! I'm so happy!'

"They should be arriving soon," Naru stated, deliberately interrupting the two's silent conversation. He didn't like it when Mai and Akuma talked telepathically, even though he didn't know why. Naru frowned. 'Now I know what Mother and Father felt like when Gene and I would talk without speaking.'

Lin, from his vantage point on the couch, shook his head and hid a smile. 'Noll may be a genius academically, but he's really stupid when it comes to feelings- especially his own.'

Outside the door, sounds of arguing, laughing,and talking were heard. Then the door burst open and the rest of the SPR team (minus Masako) stormed in.

"Hi Jou-chan!" Monk exclaimed, giving her a life crushing hug.

"Cant...breathe!" Mai gasped out. Immediately, Monk was hit by a hard purse. "Oww! Why'd you do that you old hag!?"

"I'm not an old hag!" Ayako gave him another whack from her purse.

"Now, now...Don't fight," John tried to step between them, only to quail as he was glared at from the two in question. "SHUT UP!"

"Mai! I missed youuuuu!" Yasu swept her up in another hug (the second life stealing one of the day).

"If you would please stop fooling around, I would appreciate it. And Yasu? I'd like it if you _didn't_ kill my assistant," Naru said. The last part included a glare causing Yasu to put up his hands and back away from Mai slowly.

"Who's that?" asked Monk curiously staring at Akuma, who had been watching the events unfold with an amused smile. Then Monk narrowed his eyes. "Mai, get away from him, I though I sensed a demon when we were approaching the building. That's probably it."

"She already knows I'm a demon," Akuma smirked and hugged Mai, getting another glare from Naru- but if you're an all powerful demon you've seen worse, right?

"What's going on?" Ayako demanded. "Mai you shouldn't be near that thing. It's probably tricking you. And Naru, how can you be so calm?! You have to knock some sense into her!"

Naru narrowed his eyes. "If you would listen to Mai, I'm pretty sure you'd find out why."

Mai shifted nervously as she became the center of attention in the room. Slowly, she started to explain- stopping at times to glare at Akuma who sent unhelpful (silent) comments her way when she forgot something. The room was silent as she talked, no one interrupting her.

When she finished, Akuma spoke, "I would like to request to you, like I requested _Oliver _and his other assistant, to not tell anyone. I don't think that Mai would like it if I had to get rid of annoying bugs, but she wouldn't stop me either (the whole room stared at Mai..._ again_). Also Mai and I will be taking the place of the medium, Hara-san. We'll know exactly what happened from the beginning, but we won't tell you- only you on track and give you clues at appropriate times. It'll just be like a normal case for you, except the fact that we'll already know everything. Also, if you come across any demons, we'll be able to take care of them so you won't have to burn the entire structure down like you did with the Urado case."

The whole team (including Lin and Naru- though not to the same extent as the others) felt their jaws drop as they tried to take in this information. Monk looked at Mai and Akuma, then back at the rest of the team. "Would you mind giving us some time to speak? That's a lot of information to drop on us.

"Alright," Mai agreed quickly and took Akuma's arm and dragged him to Naru's office.

Naru stared at the for a moment, then decided to follow them. He looked back at Lin who had decided to stay with the others and saw the smirk in Lin's eyes. "I'm going to make sure they don't mess anything up," Naru stated, almost defensively. Lin raised an eyebrow, then turned his attention back to the rest of the group. Naru walked quickly into his office.

"Who would have though it? Our sweet Mai is practically a demon! How could she not have told us!?" Monk exclaimed as soon as he thought they were out of earshot.

"Um... mate, we _are_ kind of exorcists. If she had told us, wouldn't we have done something drastic?" John asked sheepily.

"That's true..." Ayako mused. "But demons are basically monsters! I can trust Mai, but not that Akuma guy."

Lin chose this moment to interrupt, seeing the conversation going towards an unfavorable direction. "I think that if you don't trust Akuma, you don't trust Mai. She has _his_ heart after all, not her own. And I think you know this means she shares everything with him. That probably includes whether he's a nice or bad 'person'. I trust Mai, so I trust Akuma by default. I understand that and you need to too."

The other four people in the room stared at him in shock. They hadn't Lin talk that much in, like, ever!

Yasu spoke at last, "I don't know about you, but I think it's cool! I mean, that probably means Mai has all the same powers as him, doesn't it? I've never seen a demon's powers before! I bet it'll be awesome!"

Lin frowned at this, and filed this information in his mind to talk to Naru about later. 'This boy is smarter than he makes out to be.'

"Now that you think about it, she's always helped us, and if she shares everything with Akuma that means he has to have that type of personality too. Maybe he's a bit like Naru who doesn't show how much he cares on the outside. After all, we can't say that all demons are heartless monsters for sure and Mai certainly seems to be one," John mused out loud. Then, when he caught sight of the others staring at him, he blushed. "O-oh, did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah I guess you're right..." Monk said. Ayako nodded her head in agreement.

"And think about how cool it would be to see their powers!" Yasu cried out, determined not to be ignored.

"Mou, Yasu- are you still hung up on that?" Ayako groaned. "But it might be really useful to have two powerful members on our case."

Mai and Akuma chose this moment to come back into the room, Naru trailing behind them looking annoyed. (**A/N** I hope you know why! ;) )

Akuma spoke first, "Well, I'm glad you decided to trust me because Lin was right- if you don't trust me, you don't trust Mai because we share everything with one another. You could say that Mai is a part of me."

Seeing their shocked expressions, he explained, "What did you expect? I'm a demon. Mai and I heard everything you said. You know, if you're going to be shocked with something as small as this, I'm terrified to how you're going to react to some of the other things."

Monk blushed and looked at Mai who looked away. "W-we weren't really going to decide to not trust you or anything, we were just shocked."

The others nodded frantically in agreement. Mai smiled and said, "You shouldn't be apologizing to me, but to Akuma. I trust him because I know everything about him. We can't hide anything from each other. That's the reason you wouldn't be trusting me if you didn't trust him... And he wouldn't have saved my life if he was a monster."

Ayako, Monk, and John blushed at this. Yasu just grinned at Mai and Akuma. "I believed in you throughout the whole thing, Mai!"

"There's just one more thing we don't know yet," Naru mused. "What's your real name? Because it certainly isn't Erai Akuma."

Akuma just smiled at the curious looks directed at him. "I'll tell you when you're ready. If you have a demon's name you hold a lot of power over it. I can't just go telling everyone which demon I am."

Naru narrowed his eyes at this but said nothing. The others glanced at each other briefly.

"How about a hint?" John suggested.

"Alright," Akuma nodded. " I'm a very, if not the most, powerful demon. Humans have a name for me- you should know it too, John, since you're a priest. As a priest, you are actually very well known to me. ...Let's see...I look over all the other demons and make sure they don't get out of line. ...Are you sure none of this doesn't ring any bells? Priests are supposed to know this stuff, right?"

John blushed and nodded. Monk looked at Akuma thoughtfully. "But aren't there a number of powerful demons?"

"Who knows... I gave you my clue. Don't bother asking Mai, I already ordered her not to say anything." Akuma glanced at Mai who glared at him. "And if she disobeys my orders, there will be consequences. The worst one would probably be that her (or is it my?) heart will start torturing her, which, believe me, is _very_ painful. However this order that I placed will only stop her from communicating in any way to tell you my name."

The room became deathly quiet at this. The whole room was shocked especially a certain narcissist who narrowed his eyes and exuded a dark aura, remembering what had happened when Mai had tried to tell him about Akuma.

Mai chose this moment to speak, "After a while, though, you'll probably know everything about us. It would take forever to explain it all to you so we'll take it slowly and just show you. He might even take you to his... house, I guess. Akuma's just being cautious. I once told someone the truth a long time ago and their reaction was... not something you'd ever want to happen to you. You can probably guess what happened. That's why," she glanced at Naru. " I was ordered not to say anything about this situation from Akuma. I guess he forgot to take the order back."

"Jou-chaaaaan!" Monk had tears in his eyes as he hugged Mai, taking away all her breath. "Don't worry, we believe you- and Akuma too."

Ayako and John started to pat her head while Yasu opted to hug her as well. Mai and Akuma sweatdropped.

"Well, now that this is done, we should go over the _case_ which is why we're here," Naru remarked coldly. Immediately, the team jumped away from Mai, who shot Naru a thankful look.

"Here's the case files," Naru said. "Look them over. We'll be meeting at 6 am tomorrow. Don't be late."

This final remark was said to Mai who fumed silently, unable to come up with something to say back. Akuma took this opportunity to irritate both Mai and Naru. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's on time. We _live_ together after all."

This earned him death glares from Naru and Mai. "Wow... Humans are really blood thirsty, aren't they?"

The whole room burst into laughter (including Lin who chuckled quietly).

**RoseThorn: My laptop just went all weird on me... Whatever, I'll fix it later.**

**Naru: Remember the questions, Rose.**

**RoseThorn: Oh, right. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ANSWER BY REVIEWING!**

**1.) If Mai was an animal what animal would she be?**

**2.) If Auma was an animal, what animal would he be?**

**3.) If Naru was an animal, what animal would he be?**

**4.) Also I've just uploaded a two shot, please read it and tell me what you think. I'll be putting on the second part of the two shot tomorrow.**

**5.) I have forgotten the rest, I'll just ask them in the next chapters.**

**YAY! THANK YOU FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO KEPT THEIR PINKY PROMISE AND READ AND ARE GOING TO ANSWER THIS! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE!**

**Naru: *shakes his head and sighs, depressed* The author of my story needs to go to a mental institution.**

**RoseThorn: *still yelling*I'M IGNORING THE BRAT. YOU SHOULD TOO! BYE BYE! REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

**RoseThorn: I'm back! Alright, I have decided that Akuma would be a raven, Mai a leopard, and Naru a wolf. No questions? *cue crickets* **

**Naru: You're talking to the computer.**

**RoseThorn: Yes, I am. **

**Naru: *rolls eyes* Rose doesn't own Ghost Hunt.**

Normal POV

Mai and Akuma rushed to SPR in the morning. They were late. They had woken up at 5:30 am, leaving 30 minutes for them to get ready. When they had finally made it out the door, they ran like they were being chased by the devil... which they _were_ going to be if they didn't reach the office _soon_. Preferably in 10 seconds.

"Mai, hurry up!" Akuma easily ran ahead of her. "We _could_ have been there _much_ earlier if you would use our demon powers."

"I don't want to use them! There are consequences, remember?!" Mai panted as she ran harder to keep up with Akuma.

"Finally, we're here!" Akuma sighed in relief. And sure enough, SPR was right ahead of them. In front of the office, were the 2 infamous black vans which were always used to transport the crew and their equipment. The whole team was already there, including a dark haired teen aka Naru aka the boss aka the person who was _pissed_.

"You're late," Naru glared at them.

"I blame her," Akuma pointed at Mai, shamelessly selling her out. "She wouldn't use our demon powers or we would have been here faster."

"Very mature Akuma," Mai glared, her arms crossed. "You won't get me to use our powers in _this_ life."

"Whatever- the powers only effect you not me," Akuma huffed. "Because of you, _I_ cant't use them."

"If you two are done squabbling, we have to go," Naru growled. "Erai-san, Matsuzaki-san, Takigawa-san, and Yasuhara will go in the first van. Mai, Lin and I will go in the second van with the equipment."

"I wanna stay with Maiiiii!" Akuma whined as he was dragged away by Monk.

"I don't want to stay with _him_! I get enough of that already!" Mai muttered. No one but Naru heard her. He smirked smugly. (**A/N** I keep forgetting Naru doesn't smile. Why don't you smile Naru? _Why?!_)

"Hurry up Mai, or I'll dock your pay," Naru called to her as he entered the van. Mai glared at him, irritated, as she hurried after him.

*1 hour later*

"Naru~ I'm bored," Mai whined. Naru glanced at her over his files. He was sitting next to her in the backseat of the van while Lin drove.

"Read something then. You know, like _the files_," Naru answered sarcastically. He was well aware that Mai never took the time to read the case files.

"I don't need to read them. I'll know everything the moment Akuma and I set foot on the mansion grounds," Mai replied. She didn't notice Naru wince when she associated herself with that _thing_.

'It's almost as if I'm jealous,' Naru wondered, before his mind hunted the foolish thought he had just had and squashed it. 'No! Why would I be jealous?! _He's_ just an annoying pest, that's all.'

"How does that work exactly, Taniyama-san?" Lin asked, his eyes on the reflection on the side mirror.

"Well, one of Akuma's powers is that he sees that past, present, and future all at once. While you and Naru only see the present when you look at something, Akuma sees things that have already happened, are happening, and will happen all at once. Because I'm connected to him, I see it too, when he wants me to, or I want to. Akuma can pick out one picture from the whole jumbled up mess and zoom in on it. Right now, he's zoomed in on the things that we are seeing. It's almost like looking at the layers of the ground."

Naru was looking thoughtfully at his black notebook, which he had started to take notes in when Mai started to speak. "And what were you arguing about in the morning?"

Mai sighed when she thought about all the complications that were connected to using the powers. 'I'll have to tell him sometime... Better now then never.'

"To use demon powers, you have to be a demon, naturally. So for _me_ to use demon powers, my heart has to pump demon blood into my body which basically turns me into a demon. One thing you should know about Akuma is that he has more than one form- he is every and all the demons that exist at once. So, depending on what blood is pumped into me, I turn into that demon... And most demons eat, you know, meat- most preferably humans. That's why if I use my demon powers, there's a high chance that I'll turn into one of those demons and lose control, since this _is_ a world full of humans. Since I haven't eaten anything in so long, I'll be starving I turn into a demon," Mai laughed awkwardly. She could see that Lin and Naru were shocked even though there was almost no difference in their facial expression. "Of course, Akuma will will stop me if I try to _eat_ one of you, but I'd rather not test my luck. My demon part will take a while to leave, even after I turn back into a human since the blood will still be lingering in my veins. I don't have good control over my hunger since I'm not even a toddler in demon terms."

Naru sat still, a thousand questions running rampant in his mind. He chose the one that needed an answer immediately. "I was not aware that you were starving yourself. I have seen you eat everyday."

"Think about it like I have two separate stomachs. When I eat human food, I satisfy my human side, but my demon side has no use for the human food since it's made for what demons eat," Mai answered. "Does that make sense?"

Naru nodded slowly. He about to ask another question, when he noticed Mai nodding off.

Soon, she was fully asleep, her head falling to rest on his shoulder.

'Naru isn't moving her,' Lin noticed smiling softly in his head (Of course! Why would he smile for the whole world to see?) as he watched the couple in the backseat.

Mai felt like she was sleeping for only a couple of minutes (a _very_ comfortable couple of minutes mind you) when she was shaken awake.

"Mai, wake up. We're here." Naru's face was the first thing to appear when she opened her eyes. Mai blushed and jerked away while Naru smirked at her reaction (secretly) enjoying it.

"Alright, I'm up!" Mai blushed harder and scooted as far away as possible (which wasn't far considering they were in a vehicle). Naru just stared at her with his usual stoic expression, but Lin could see the amusement and pleasure in his eyes.

"You sleep like a rock," Naru commented.

He was rewarded with a glare from a still blushing Mai. He mentally smirked and proceeded to get out as _slowly_ as possible, wanting to frustrate her further. "Hurry up Naru!"

Naru smirked, this time openly, and moved even _slower_ in response. Mai let out a groan of impatience, then realized it would be faster to get out from the other side... But by that time, Naru had already exited the van, not giving Mai the chance to show him that she _wasn't_ as stupid as he thought. Mai quickly followed him, stretching when she was out.

"Come one Mai!" Akuma called. "Let's do this together!"

The other members,who were already walking towards the mansion, glanced to look at the duo curiously. Mai took a deep breath, then nodded. She walked over to Akuma, who still hadn't stepped one inch to the sidewalk that led through a spectacular front lawn before reaching the front steps of the porch. Mai took some time to study the mansion before stepping on its grounds. It was in pristine condition, _not_ what she'd expect of a property that was abandoned for fifty years. It was western-styled, with two large pillars that supported the roof of the porch. The mansion itself was gleaming white with three stories. (**A/N** Think something like the White House).

Finally, finished with her inspection, she looked over to Akuma who was patiently waiting beside her and nodded. The other members were waiting for them to catch up. Everyone but Naru and Lin were confused as to the hold up. Akuma reached and took Mai's hand, much to Naru's displeasure, and together they stepped over the invisible line that marked the property.

To the others, it looked like their minds had gone on vacation, leaving their bodies behind- they were staring blankly in front of them for almost five minutes. Then, Akuma took a deep breath, which shook Mai out of the trance, and grinned, "Well... What an interesting case, right Mai?"

Mai, looking kind of pale, nodded and smiled a little, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. The rest of the team walked over to her to offer the comfort of their presence to her, sensing she'd something scary and disturbing. "It should be easy... I hope," Mai commented, frowning.

Akuma turned to Naru. "Right. As long as you have all the right information, it should be easy."

Naru nodded, his face not betraying any of his thoughts. Then he turned back towards the mansion. "Start carrying the equipment inside. Otori-san will show us to the base."

The team groaned collectively (except Akuma who grinned), then turned towards the vans to start unloading the equipment. Mai picked up a box of wires and started to walk towards the mansion again. "Mai wait for me!" Mai looked back to see Akuma running towards her and sweatdropped. He was easily carrying half of the van in his arms.

"Erai-san, please do not break any of the equipment you're carrying," Naru ordered coldly.

"Don't worry- I'm a demon, remember," Akuma grinned at Naru, succeeding in irritating him.

Mai watched the two of them, sweat dropping as she thought of the confrontation of wills that was sure to occur. 'Akuma, please don't upset him. He'll take it out on the rest of us later.'

'Of course, Mai-chan. Since you so kindly asked me.'

The group followed Naru into the mansion, their arms filled with equipment. Since Akuma had picked up half of the van (the most heavy equipment too), the rest of them had carried the rest of the equipment easily. They found Otori-san waiting at the entrance, fidgeting. "Come in! I've found the best rooms for you. Because the rooms keep changing places, you'll be a room that connects to two other rooms as your base. I found out that these three rooms always move together. It's quite out of place, really, like it's own apartment. The first room will be your base and the other two rooms will be your sleeping quarters."

Kaname stopped at a door and opened it. He sighed in relief. "It's still in the same place."

The team slowly filled in and put down the equipment. The room had the feeling of a living room and had lots of electrical outlets, like requested. Two doors leading to separate 'bedrooms' were connected to the base. Naru was starting to direct the places of the equipment when he noticed Mai and Akuma exchange knowing glances as the looked around. His eyes narrowed. 'There's something about these rooms that's important...'

**RoseThorn: *throws hands up in the air* Hallelujah! I finished.**

**Naru: Took you long enough.**

**RoseThorn: *frowns* Well, first I was being lazy. Then, when I started to write the chapter and was almost finished my computer took revenge on whatever it was that angered it and I lost the whole chapter. I didn't feel like writing it again, so I was being lazy again. And now, because I'm going to India on vacation tomorrow and didn't know whether or not I'd be able to update there, I wrote the whole chapter again! :)**

**Naru: So basically, you were being lazy.**

**RoseThorn: *pouts* You don't have to say it like that...**

***And then there be Mai***

**Mai: I'm back! Who missed me?**

**RoseThorn: *cheers* I did! No more company of the narcissistic jerk!**

**Naru: *glares at Rose* Hmph.**

**Mai: *obviously completely ignoring Naru* I missed you Rose!**

**RoseThorn: *laughs awkwardly- she's on the receiving end of Naru's death glare* Don't you think you should forgive him now? He didn't mean it, you know.**

**Mai: *raises an eyebrow* Oh, the insect didn't mean it did he? Well too bad, he said it and that's what matters.**

**Naru: *intending on apologizing (in a roundabout manner)* Mai-**

**Mai: You hear something, Rose? I don't. **

**RoseThorn: Let's ask what the readers say okay?**

**Mai: *reluctantly nods* Fine.**

**RoseThorn: *Looks pleadingly at readers* Shouldn't Mai forgive him? We all know that Naru didn't mean it right? *looks nervously at Naru and whispers frantically to readers* Please say yes- I have a feeling he's going to kill me if you don't. REVIEW WHAT YOU THINK MAI SHOULD DO!**


	12. Chapter 12

**RoseThorn: I'm back from India... Actually I was back 3 weeks back and got caught up with high school. Did I mention I'm a ninth grader now? I'm excited!**

**Naru: Lazy Rose does not own Ghost Hunt.**

**RoseThorn: I resent that! It's a curse I say! I'm not lazy at all!**

***Rose is ignored as the readers go to read the chapter***

Mai wandered the mansion looking for the kitchen. 'I thought the kitchen was supposed to be on the first floor...'

She had gone through all the rooms on the first floor and had yet to come upon the elusive room. 'Naru just had to have his tea, didn't he?'

Mai wandered some more, before deciding to go back. When she turned around, though, she realized that she had no idea where she was. 'The base should be right here. Where is it? Oh no, the rooms changed again! Akuma, do I go?!'

***at the base***

'Akuma, do I go?!' Akuma sat up straight, startling the monk and priestess.

"What's wrong?" Monk asked, hiding his alarm.

"Mai's lost because the rooms changed... you just had to have your tea didn't you?" The last remark was directed at Naru who ignored them.

"I'll go get her then." Monk moved towards the door but was stopped by Akuma.

"Don't... The ghost is trying to split us up. Every time someone exists the base, the rooms will change and the person will lose all sense of direction."

"How do you know that?" Naru stared at Akuma.

"I can sense the ghost. It's angry because of the newcomers and wants us out."

"What about Mai?!" Ayako demanded. "We can't just leave her lost somewhere in the hallways with a hostile ghost!"

"She'll be fine," reassured Akuma. "She can use my presence as a target and start walking in the general direction until she catches up to us. The ghost won't try to hurt her. She's too strong to be taken down by a weakling like that."

"Erai-san, a ghost with the power to change environments is considered quite strong," Lin spoke up from the corner of the room. "I don't believe that Mai will be able to fend it off if it decides to attack."

At this Akuma frowned, starting to get annoyed. "Mai is _not_ a _human_! You need to understand that! I get that the monk and priestess have reservations about it, but you have known the truth longer than them and should be accustomed to it by now! _Demon-wise_, this ghost is not even a bug to be bothered with. It's good thing I'm hiding my presence or the ghost would have fled to the hills the moment it got an inkling of my presence _near _this mansion."

The _humans_ in the room were silent as they absorbed this new information. Mai chose this moment to storm the room. "Finally! I made it! It's hard to play tag with a room..."

She then stopped noticing the tense atmosphere in the room. 'Okaay. Akuma, what did you do? I'm pretty sure there wasn't such a dark aura when I left.'

'Why do you always blame me?! Nevermind, I'm glad you're safe.' Crocodile tears started gathering at the edge of Akuma's eyes. Mai shuddered and side-stepped as he lunged at her, trying to capture her in a bear hug. This, finally, caught Naru's attention and he clenched the files in his hands, which turned white, while glaring at Akuma. Akuma smirked back at him (as soon as he got his balance back).

Yasuhara noticed this exchange and his eyes widened comically behind his glasses. Slowly, a devious smirk made its way to his face. 'Big Boss is jealous, huh... I should use this to my advantage. Maybe, he'll finally confess. **(A/N *shakes her head condescendingly* Yasu, Yasu, Yasu, you should know by now that the Great Oliver Davis will never stoop so low... or will he? Muhahahaha)**

"Akuma-chan~! Mai-chan~! Will we get to see your powers today?" Yasuhara made his way to the two. Instantly, the whole room's attention was captured.

"Not on this case, I think," Mai paused as she reconsidered. "...Actually, maybe a little."

"Yay!" Yasuhara sneaked up on Monk and threw his hands around him. "Won't it be awesome, honey?"

"Eeeeew! Yasu, get off!" Monk shuddered, trying to push him away. Instantly, the heavy atmosphere disappeared. "Old hag! Help me!"

"Who are you calling old hag?!" Ayako hit Monk with her purse. "Help yourself _old man_."

Monk fell to the floor, holding his head in pain, while Yasuhara fussed over him.

"If you have time to be fooling around, get to work." Naru's voice cut thru the commotion. "It's a good thing that the cameras are set up already, since we can't go out of the room anymore. Yasuhara and Takigawa, try to get any research you can off the internet. You can use the extra laptop... don't break it." He threw the pair a warning glance and they nodded frantically. They grabbed the laptop and started researching immediately, completely engrossed with their task. "Mai and Akuma, give us information about the ghost. Ayako... just don't bother anyone." **(Anyone know Ayako's last name? I completely forgot)**

Ayako, looking furious, opened her mouth to yell at Naru, but was cut off by Akuma. "The ghost is sad and lonely. It's the ghost of a boy. That's all I'm going to tell you. Just so you know, there are two more ghosts, a man and a woman, but they are under the control of the boy.

"Yasuhara, use that information as basis for your research," Naru ordered before turning back to stare at the monitors.

Akuma and Mai started to mess around as they sat on the couch, since they had nothing to do. Ayako decided to go help Monk and Yasu do the research and headed over to them. Soon, the 3 started their own comedy show.

"Honey~!"

"Get off me!"

**THWACK!**

"Who are you calling an old woman?!"

**(A/N *smirk* I dare you to guess what just happened.)**

Naru pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. 'I'm surrounded by idiots...'

Lin spared an amused glance at Naru before going back to typing on his laptop.

**(A/N What _does_ Lin do on his laptop? Tell me~! I have to know!)**

Finally, Naru decided to put a stop to all the noise. With a glare that could send you to the depths of hell...twice, he spoke, "Matsuzaki-san, Takigawa-san, and Yasuhara, please do what I told you to do and not fool around like little kids." Two of the aforementioned three paled (not including Yasuhara) and all of them nodded.

"And Mai and Erai-san, please do something more productive."

"We aren't even making any noise!" Mai complained.

'That's the problem...' Out loud, Naru remarked, " I doubt that staring at each other with different expressions will help our case."

**(A/N what this means is they're talking in their head so all everyone else sees is their reaction on their faces.)**

Mai flushed angrily and shut up. She was filled with frustration. 'There isn't anything to do!' She wailed inside her head.

"There are a lot of things to do if you look for them Mai." Mai jumped startled. 'Naru can read minds!'

Akuma snickered. ' I think it's just the fact that you wear your emotions on your face.'

Mai glared at him before stomping over to Naru to look at the monitor. Suddenly her eyes widened and she pointed to the wall on facing the east. "There weren't any windows before, were there?"

Everyone came over to the window to look out. They had been moved to the 3rd floor of the mansion and were facing the forest behind it.

"The whole 'apartment' was moved," Monk exclaimed in amazement. Indeed, even the connecting rooms had been moved with the base.

Naru looked thoughtful. "There's something wrong here... Why is there a living room, bedroom, and what I assume to be is a study room all by itself. It's like someone was alienated and lived here."

Naru kept his eyes on Akuma and Mai's faces. Mai's face lit up while Akuma smirked. "Well done. I was beginning to question the fact that you were a genius, _Oliver_."

Naru narrowed his eyes at the thinly veiled insult, but didn't answer. Instead he turned to Yasuhara, who had been standing by him. "What did you find?"

"Well, as Kaname-san said, this mansion has been abandoned for 50 years. This is mostly due to the fact that the families that moved in all had the same problems as him. The messes were cleaned up by themselves, people saw will-o-wisps, and the rooms kept changing places. These incidents, however, first started when Okumura Shiro disappeared." Seeing the questioning looks, he continued. "Okumura Shiiro was the son of Okumura Sakura, who was a rich widow. She later married a man named Okumura Kaito. Her maiden name was Tamaki. The Tamaki's were the owners of a huge business company and Sakura was the heir. One day, Shiiro disappeared. He was last seen walking in the woods according to his stepfather. The Okumura's disappeared a year after Shiiro. No one heard from them again."

**RoseThorn: Dun! DUN! DUUUUUNNN! What will happen next? Will they figure the case out? Who killed Shiiro? Why did the Okumura's disappear? Find out in the next installment of: A Demon's Heart!**

**Naru and Mai:...**

**RoseThorn: *laughing awkwardly* Sorry, I wanted to try that.**

**Naru: Of course, the next installment will only come if the _author_ remembers to keep writing and _stops being lazy_.**

**RoseThorn: *puppy dog eyes* I'm telling you it's a curse. A CURSE! Now if someone took it upon themselves to give me a deadline... *nudge, nudge, wink, wink***

**Naru: I have better things to do.**

**RoseThorn: *glares* I wasn't asking you!**

**Naru: Your fans have better things to do.**

**RoseThorn: You can't answer for them!**

**Mai: *forced smile directed at fans* See you guys later!**


End file.
